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Author Topic: Best new RPG of 2017?  (Read 1919 times)

jhkim

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« on: May 27, 2018, 12:52:49 PM »
So as an adjunct to the thread Best NEW RPG post-2001?, what new games came out in 2017 that caught people's eye?

I'm curious in general - but in particular for the Indie RPG Awards.

Caesar Slaad

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2018, 03:41:02 PM »
Masks, Timewatch, and Bubblegumshoe stick out as "games of 2017" to me, but I can see that all actually dropped in 2016.

2017 has a bunch of decidedly non-indie entries in my gaming tableau. Though it's flawed in some ways, City of Mist stands out as the most intriguing game that actually came out in 2017 that I play.
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Running: Pathfinder Scarred Lands, Mutants & Masterminds, Masks, Starfinder, Bulldogs!
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Planning: Some Cyberpunk thing, system TBD.

Scrivener of Doom

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2018, 05:03:47 PM »
While I haven't run it yet, Starfinder is looking pretty good even with the 3.5E/Pathfinder chassis underneath.

It might be the space fantasy/space opera setting I've been looking for as an alternative to Star Wars (which I've never run either). If only it was built on the 13th Age/Archmage engine....
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Itachi

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2018, 08:08:58 PM »
My top 3 pick:

Veins of the Earth
Masks
Blades in the Dark

Didn't read City of Mist, Bubblegumshoe nor TimeWatch but heard only good things of those.

GeekEclectic

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2018, 10:32:29 PM »
City of Mist and Stars Without Number Revised, definitely.

I'm also looking forward to trying Bubblegumshoe sometime(and speaking of Gumshoe, I *still* want to play my plant-dude detective from the older-than-2017 Mutant City Blues in a full campaign someday.) Gumshoe in general is a neat system.

I feel like I'm alone in not liking Masks; it just didn't work in play for me at all, and I hated how the playbooks(esp. the Moves) were written. I've played plenty of Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, and Urban Shadows, so I'm pretty familiar with how the engine works. I still have a copy of Worlds in Peril I never got to try out, so I'm hoping that works better for me because the idea of Powered by the Apocalypse superhero stuff really appeals to me.
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Aglondir

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2018, 10:26:27 PM »
Probably doesn't count (since it's not exactly new) but the Traveller Starter Set (2017) is amazing.

The Traveller Starter Set contains:

Book 1: Characters and Combat
Book 2: Worlds and Spacecraft
Book 3: The Fall of Tinath
Giant blank Sector Maps
6 Pre-generated Character Cards

This is essentially the same rules in the corebook, with the addition of a full campaign sector. I have the PDFs, but I may buy the physical boxed set as well. Art and production values have never looked this good for Traveller.

Thondor

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2018, 11:54:55 PM »
Quote from: GeekEclectic;1041043

I feel like I'm alone in not liking Masks; it just didn't work in play for me at all, and I hated how the playbooks(esp. the Moves) were written. I've played plenty of Apocalypse World, Monsterhearts, and Urban Shadows, so I'm pretty familiar with how the engine works. I still have a copy of Worlds in Peril I never got to try out, so I'm hoping that works better for me because the idea of Powered by the Apocalypse superhero stuff really appeals to me.


I think I would find mental dissonance with a PBTA superhero game. It works for Monsterhearts and The Warren, but the GM never rolling anything would feel strange. This is something I found with Dungeon World.

Anticrustean

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #7 on: May 30, 2018, 10:35:08 AM »
Veins of the Earth was a great read. Wish I could play it with people who both a) love an underworld adventure and b) are into OSR.

I own all the "underdark"-related books since AD&D 1e and this was a doozy of creativity. But it always surprises me how few people seem interested in underground delving, even among D&D fans.

Caesar Slaad

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2018, 11:11:43 PM »
Quote from: Thondor;1041233
I think I would find mental dissonance with a PBTA superhero game. It works for Monsterhearts and The Warren, but the GM never rolling anything would feel strange. This is something I found with Dungeon World.

I never really dug Dungeon World or Monster Hearts. Masks was the first PbtA game where I really dug the vibe and felt like they pegged what they were going for.
The Secret Volcano Base: my intermittently updated RPG blog.

Running: Pathfinder Scarred Lands, Mutants & Masterminds, Masks, Starfinder, Bulldogs!
Playing: Sigh. Nothing.
Planning: Some Cyberpunk thing, system TBD.

John Scott

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2018, 04:21:47 PM »
Nothing comes to mind so i'll vote for what i think the worst kind of "rpg". 2017 award goes to Turds in the Dark. The antithesis of why i play rpg's.

I looked into my crystal ball for the best rpg of 2018, the award goes to new Runequest from Chaosium, its that good.  That is what i think a great rpg.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 04:23:55 PM by John Scott »

Itachi

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #10 on: June 01, 2018, 10:59:38 PM »
Quote from: Caesar Slaad;1041518
I never really dug Dungeon World or Monster Hearts. Masks was the first PbtA game where I really dug the vibe and felt like they pegged what they were going for.
Perhaps the difference is that Masks is not just a superheroes game but also about coming of age and generational conflict? PbtA games are usually pretty good in tackling themes.

GeekEclectic

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2018, 05:24:18 AM »
Quote from: Thondor;1041233
I think I would find mental dissonance with a PBTA superhero game. It works for Monsterhearts and The Warren, but the GM never rolling anything would feel strange. This is something I found with Dungeon World.
For me, it's a couple things. One is that it's more mechanically complex than Apocalypse World(at least 1e) and other PbtA games I've played, and in a way that, for me at least, seriously detracted from the fun. I know it's to evoke a certain feel, but I couldn't help but think the entire time I was playing - and I did give it a few sessions - that there had to be an easier, less intrusive way. The other is the limiting, and honestly kind of condescending, way that Moves were written. Masks move text spells out why you'd take it and what it means for your character. In the games I'm used to, you get a name, trigger, and mechanical effect of the move and rarely much more. The authors trust themselves -  that they communicated the playbook's shtick well enough already; and they trust you as a player to figure out your own justifications for the moves you take. I much prefer that.
"I despise weak men in positions of power, and that's 95% of game industry leadership." - Jessica Price
"Isnt that why RPGs companies are so woke in the first place?" - Godsmonkey
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Emperor Norton

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #12 on: June 03, 2018, 03:11:30 PM »
Quote from: John Scott;1041601
Nothing comes to mind so i'll vote for what i think the worst kind of "rpg". 2017 award goes to Turds in the Dark. The antithesis of why i play rpg's.


... Holy hell, this forum really didn't change at all. Like, Turds and Blades sound nothing alike...

GeekEclectic

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #13 on: June 04, 2018, 02:17:38 PM »
Quote from: Aglondir;1041221
Probably doesn't count (since it's not exactly new) but the Traveller Starter Set (2017) is amazing.
I came this close to saying MongTrav 2e myself, but then remembered that just because I got it in 2017 doesn't mean that's when it came out. I checked, and sure enough it was a 2016 release. I grabbed both it and Stars Without Number around the time I binged the first couple seasons of Dark Matter and really wanted to play something that resembled that. I haven't gotten to yet, but I still hold out hope. (Also holding out the slight hope that another network, maybe even Netflix itself, will pick up Dark Matter for a 4th season since it ended on a cliffhanger. Last I heard the owners have been looking for a network to pick it up, but so far no takers.)
"I despise weak men in positions of power, and that's 95% of game industry leadership." - Jessica Price
"Isnt that why RPGs companies are so woke in the first place?" - Godsmonkey
*insert Disaster Girl meme here* - Me

thedungeondelver

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Best new RPG of 2017?
« Reply #14 on: June 04, 2018, 07:59:28 PM »
Tales from the Loop.
THE DELVERS DUNGEON


Mcbobbo sums it up nicely.

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